


i'll hold my breath as i wait for your answer

by aominedaikis



Series: breathless until the end [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Confessions, Future Fic, M/M, Pro Basketball Player Aomine Daiki, sort of a confession at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24127684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aominedaikis/pseuds/aominedaikis
Summary: Akashi Seijuurou has never backed down from a challenge, least of all from Aomine Daiki.
Relationships: Akashi Seijuurou/Aomine Daiki
Series: breathless until the end [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749178
Comments: 8
Kudos: 42





	i'll hold my breath as i wait for your answer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bloodplum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodplum/gifts).



> title from day6's love me or leave me.

Many years later, they finally meet again on a streetball court under the moonlight.

It’s not like they don’t _meet_. Daiki’s seen Akashi Seijuurou at least three times this month alone. Once at a match against the Lakers, —where Daiki spotted him and an entourage of people with colourful hair seated on the stadium’s best seats—once at a restaurant for dinner between just the two of them, and once when Sei decided that he absolutely had to make time to take Daiki to the airport before he left for an away game.

But even though they see each other, it really _has_ been years since Daiki’s met Sei on a court like this.

The last time they played like this— Daiki can’t actually remember when he’s last seen Sei step onto the court. He knows Sei does, has heard the other man talk about whatever team building exercise he does at his office, but they’ve never gotten the chance to stand on a court together since… Maybe it was after high school graduation that they last did this—when Satsuki had arranged a farewell game before Daiki headed off for the NBA.

Not that he blames Sei. Daiki’s been busy, too.

Playing for the Cavaliers means that his training regimen has gotten a lot more intense in the recent years, which means that he doesn’t have as much time to fool around on random streetball courts like he used to. And Sei, well— Since Sei decided to step up and dedicate his life to the family business, finding time to spend the night doing nothing but stand under the stars on a court like this has been near impossible. During the times they meet, Daiki knows that Sei has other priorities than playing basketball with him.

Dinner, for one.

 _You’re a star player now,_ he remembers Sei saying after one of his games. _Let me take you out to dinner to celebrate._

And when has Daiki known how to say no to Sei, really?

So they meet, sometimes. Sei comes to watch his games. They go out for dinner. Sometimes Daiki invites him over, though Sei never stays the night. That works fine for him.

They talk on the phone, too. Daiki’s message log is filled with messages from Satsuki, Tetsu and Sei. The one time Satsuki borrowed his phone when she visited, she saw Sei’s messages, and said, “Huh, Dai-chan. I didn’t think you’d get so close to Akashi-kun.” That was years ago, before Sei told him that the Akashi family business was looking to expand to America and that he was getting transferred to the American branch.

Even then, part of Daiki had wondered if maybe that was an excuse for Sei to close the physical distance between them.

He’s never asked, but. The thought has always lingered.

Now that they’re standing on a court, the world beyond it falling away, he breaks the silence with a dribble of the basketball. And then, a question.

“Did you come here for me?”

He doesn’t know what possessed him to ask it, to blurt it out just like that. They’ve never talked about it—whatever this is they have between them. But standing like this, facing each other like they’re back in that final high school match between Rakuzan and Touou, Daiki thinks that it feels like the right time to ask.

Sei offers him a smile. “You’ve always been arrogant,” he says. It’s not an answer to Daiki’s question.

Daiki shrugs. He makes no move to get past Sei, as if waiting for the other man to come for him, to steal the ball he’s dribbling away. “I prefer self-assured, actually,” he says.

He gets a hum in response for that. Then Sei’s body drops into an offensive stance, and Daiki knows that his question is going to remain unanswered until they play this game. Fine. Two can play a game.

He dribbles the ball between his legs, like it’s a challenge. His lips curve into a smirk, and he lifts his head to meet Sei’s eyes. “Come on, Akashi,” Daiki drawls. “First to ten baskets.”

Akashi Seijuurou has never backed down from a challenge, least of all from Aomine Daiki.

Sei comes for him in a blur of movements. One moment he’s in front of Daiki, and the next he sees a flash of red next to him. Daiki spins, pulls the ball out of Sei’s reach, and he lets himself zone into the game.

Apparently Sei hasn’t lost his touch, either.

Ten baskets become twelve, then fifteen, then twenty. Then they play another two games, because at the end of their first game Daiki pants out, “Best of three?” He gets a nod as an answer, and they start all over again.

They play until they’re both out of breath—or at least, Sei is and Daiki’s pretending that he’s tired himself out too for Sei’s sake. He’s won all three games, —Daiki’s a professional player for a reason—but it doesn’t seem like Sei minds. He’s glad.

In the years Sei’s been in America, he’s never offered to play with Daiki like this, but Daiki has never reached out to ask either, except for the one time he brought it up and Sei said that dinner would be more productive than playing street basketball.

Maybe all this time he’s been scared that playing again would ruin whatever they started with each other all those years ago.

But all Sei does is—uncharacteristically, for one Akashi Seijuurou, but Daiki has since learned that when one gets to know Akashi Seijuurou there is no one characteristic that defines him—offer up his fist. “Good game,” he congratulates Daiki.

Daiki snorts. “I’d hope it was,” he says, but it doesn’t stop him from bumping his fist with Sei’s. “I’m surprised you still play that well. Here I was thinking that all the time you spend rotting away in your office would mean an easy game.”

He doesn’t mean that. The both of them know that Sei never does anything by halves, and maybe— Daiki wonders if Sei still tries so hard to keep up because he knows how important basketball is to Daiki.

He blurts out that question, too. “Couldn’t stand the thought of losing to me, huh?”

Sei takes a step closer. Daiki remembers that he hit a growth spurt in their last year of high school, but even now, the redhead only comes up to Daiki’s nose. He grins a little at that.

Not that it makes Sei’s stare any less intense. But over the years he’s known him, Daiki’s also gotten accustomed to the intensity the man possesses, and it’ll take a lot more than that to get him to look away.

“I don’t mind losing to you,” Sei says evenly. Daiki can’t help the bewildered look on his face. That’s a statement unheard of, coming from _his_ mouth. “But I’d never let you run ahead without me.”

Ah. The surprise on Daiki’s features smooths a little. “Yeah?” he asks. His gaze stays on Sei’s. For a moment, they’re locked onto each other. It reminds Daiki of that high school game once again, when the world fell away and they both slipped into the Zone as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

Then he takes a step closer. If he bends down just a little, their foreheads would be close enough to touch. Sei’s made his move. It’s Daiki’s turn now. He leans down to brush Sei’s hair away from his face.

He breathes out, “I’m not sure I know how to do that without you, either.”

It’s a fact. A truth. An admission.

A confession.

_The ball is in your court now, Sei._

“Then don’t.” And that’s all that Daiki needs to hear.


End file.
